Mulled macarons get their flavor from mulled wine. Serve the macarons with small pieces of salt, sparkling wine, espresso or brewed Christmas tea.
Finns are in love with macarons, and no wonder. Small macarons are festive and delicious, and their fillings can be varied to your liking.
Christmas mulled macarons, the recipe of which is made by a pastry chef, are perfect for the Independence Day table Maid Perttilän handwriting. The recipe for mulled macarons has been published Skylark! C’est parti! – in the book, which Perttilä has written together with pastry chef Merja Naumanen with. The book presents dozens of different macaron recipes, so Perttilä knows how successful macarons are created.
– Many people think that macaron shells are difficult to make, but with this instruction many people who have failed before have succeeded, as long as they have the patience to follow and follow the instructions, Perttilä says and promises that once the macaron shells are made, the filling that comes between the shells is quite easy to make.
This is how you succeed
Perttilä knows what the pitfalls of home bakers are with macaron shells.
– If the almond powder is not fine enough, the surfaces of the shells may remain rough. You should sift the almond flour properly or grind it finely in a food processor.
Another pitfall lies in the correct thickness of the dough. If the dough is too stiff, there will be peaks in the shells when you press them out, and the end result will not be pretty.
– To find the right thickness, you can do a test: lift the dough a little with baking paper and see how it spreads and flattens out in ten seconds. In this case, continue mixing the dough calmly, and it will become looser, the confectioner instructs.
Perttilä also reminds that the shells must be left on the baking sheet long enough before frying, so that their surface does not crack during frying.
– Do the test by gently touching the surface of the shell. If dough remains on your finger, the macarons are not yet ready to bake.
When the crusts are fried, you should only open the oven door when you test for doneness.
– Gently touch the top of the shell. If the pastry stays together and the lace edge does not fall, it is ready. If the lace edge starts to fall, continue baking.
Build a cocktail table
Macarons are perfect for a party table consisting of cocktail pieces. Cover the mulled macarons with savory treats. Merja Naumanen recommends, for example, small quiche pies.
– For example, Parma ham-rosemary, blue cheese-pecan and cold-smoked salmon fetaquiches work well. In addition, the table could be set with melon cold-smoked reindeer cocktail sticks, antipasto cocktail sticks, small salmon or whitefish island breads, various cheeses and jams, and salty macarons.
1 macaron dough
In addition, 1 teaspoon of red pasta color
1. Prepare the macaron shells. Add red pasta color according to the instructions when mixing the dough.
Glögi curd
200 g of cranberries
1 dl sugar
½ dl Glöet sparkling wine
½ tsp cinnamon
1 ¼ tsp cardamom
½ tsp ginger
5 g of chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons of cornmeal
4 tablespoons of Glöet sparkling wine
4 egg yolks
150 g butter at room temperature
For decoration
golden glitter powder
1. Boil frozen cranberries and Glöet in a pot so that the cranberries melt and the Glöet evaporates by half.
2. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and puree the cranberry mixture with a stick blender.
3. Chop the rosemary sprigs into small pieces.
4. Mix cornmeal with four tablespoons of Glöet sparkling wine.
5. Cut the butter into cubes.
6. Put the cranberry mixture back into the pot and add the sugar, rosemary, egg yolks and cornflour-Glöet sparkling wine mixture to the mixture.
7. Stir constantly until the mixture bubbles once.
8. Put the mixture in a separate bowl and let it sit on the table for a while.
9. Add the butter cubes to the mixture all at once and puree with a stick blender.
10. Put in the fridge overnight.
11. Put the mixture in a piping bag with a round tip.
12. Squeeze the filling into the bottom shells of the macarons.
13. Press the lids on by lightly rotating them.
14. Use a brush to apply glitter powder to the surface of the shells.
15. Store in the fridge until the next day or enjoy immediately.
Sweet macaron shells
180 g of almond flour
200 g powdered sugar
60 g of water
200 g of sugar
140 g (about 5 pcs) egg whites
25 g of sugar
1. Mix almond flour and powdered sugar together.
2. Finely grind the almond flour-powdered sugar mixture in a blender.
3. Make the syrup for the meringue. Put the sugar and water in a saucepan and measure the temperature with a digital thermometer.
4. Put the room-temperature egg whites in the bowl of the food processor. When the syrup reaches 110 degrees, whip the egg whites on high. When the egg whites are slightly frothy, add 25 g of sugar in two batches. Let it beat at the same time.
5. When the sugar syrup reaches 118 degrees, reduce the whipping power of the egg whites to medium power and pour the syrup into the foam in a thin strip while it is being whipped at the same time. Increase the whisking power for about another minute.
6. Whisk the mixture again on medium power for about 5–10 minutes so that the mixture is finally hand-warm.
7. Mix about 1/3 of the egg white foam and the desired flavor and coloring into the almond-powdered sugar mixture into a paste-like mixture. Mix in the rest of the egg whites with a spatula, gently mixing to form a smooth, loose dough.
9. Put the mixture in a piping bag with a large round tip.
10. If you have a convection oven, press the dough on the edges of the tray, then press the baking paper onto the tray. This prevents the baking paper from rising from the edges in the convection oven. There is no need to do this in a regular oven.
11. Extrude circles about 3.5 cm in size on baking paper or silicone on the baking sheet. When you’re done, tap the tin a few times to let the air bubbles settle and make the macaron shells even.
12. Let the shells dry, i.e. peel them, on a baking sheet for 30–60 minutes before putting them in the oven.
13. Bake the shells in a standard oven at 140 degrees (in a convection oven at 120 degrees) for about 13 minutes.
14. After baking, leave the shells on the tray overnight. Fill the shells the next day.
Recipes: Bread C’est parti! (Readme.fi, 2022)